Saiyan Hero
by Ocean's Fury
Summary: AU. One small change in history. One tiny detail altered, and the world will never be the same. What if Goku never hit his head? starts at the beginning of Dragon Ball.
1. The beginning

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the characters.

* * *

Bardock smiled down at his infant son, who was fast asleep. Unlike his older brother, who had taken so much after his mother, he had taken after Bardock in looks, which made the saiyan warrior glad he decided to have a second child. His wife was still in the hospital, supposedly getting out tomorrow. It wasn't fair to her, but she wouldn't get to see Kakarot before he left. It was even more unfair now, because after Dodoria's betrayal, Bardock knew that the end of their race would be inevitable save a lucky few who were already sent out on a mission where it will take a year or so for them to return.

Such luck had managed to go to both his sons, Raditz and Kakarot. Raditz, Bardock's first son, had left on a year long mission, on a three man team with two others, one of them being the prince.

'At least both my children will outlive me.' He thought with a sad smile as he looked down at his son in his arms.

"Bardock, I hate to have to do this, but I need to run Kakarot through the programming." An attendant said as he walked up behind the saiyan warrior.

Bardock glanced back at the man, before returning his gaze onto his son "Where's my son going?" Bardock asked, ignoring the statement as he turned to face the attendant.

"Uh...I think it was a place called Earth." The attendant replied, looking through his notes. "A beautiful blue pearl, but its inhabited by nothing but weaklings. It shouldn't be a problem for a saiyan baby." The attendant said "But I still need to run your son through the program."

"Do me a favor and forget the programming." Bardock said flatly, turning to face the attendant.

"But then how will he know his mission?" the attendant asked in confusion.

"I'll be giving him instructions on what to do." Bardock stated. "I want my son to live a decent life, not the life of a mindless soldier with no identity." Bardock said simply. He pulled out a box about as big as his hand and said "Just let me put this in there with him."

"What's in it?" the attendant asked.

"The essentials, a suit of armor for when he's older, a couple of instructions on training." Bardock shrugged.

The attendant looked skeptical, but none the less said "Alright Bardock, but he needs to be in his pod in the next five minutes, alright?" before he walked off.

Bardock nodded, as he looked back down at his sleeping son. He gently layed the boy in his pod, and put the cube next to him.

"Alright Kakarot, I guess this'll be the last time you see me, huh?" Bardock asked, a twinge of bitterness in his voice. He took off a necklace he was wearing, a simple silver chain with a red gemstone in the middle, gripping it tightly as he said "This is a family heirloom, Kakarot. Your brother was supposed to get it when he got back, but I don't think I'll be here to give it to him."

Placing it in the pod with the cube and his son, Bardock stood back as the door closed and the shuttle shot out into space.

"Goodbye, Kakarot."

* * *

Gohan looked up at the sky, seeing what looked like a meteor crash nearby. He walked over to it, only to find it was no meteor, but a space pod. He looked inside of it, finding a naked baby sitting in the fetal position, sucking his thumb. The odd part however, was not the baby in general, but the brown tail that was lazily laying to the side.

_"that's not something you see every day." _Gohan thought, picking up the baby. The newborn awoke, and saw the old man staring down at him, and did what his instincts told him to do.

He punched the old man as hard as he could in the face with a tiny fist.

It hit the old man on the cheek, but it did little to hurt Gohan. However, instead of getting angry like most people would've, Gohan smiled as he said sweetly "Your going to be a fighter one day, aren't you little guy?" Looking back through the pod, he found a large box with a necklace next to it. Picking them up, Gohan took both the baby, and his little box and necklace to his house.

Ten minutes later, in the privacy of his home, Gohan went through the box with the baby sitting next to him, playing with a stick he found in the yard.

Gohan pulled out the first thing he found, which was a black and green suit of armor, without any sleeves attached to it. Looking back at the baby, he said "Your a little young to have your own armor little guy." Continuing to go through the pack, he found a weird pink tinted device that seemed to go over someone's eye. Other items were found as well, such as a couple books with fighting styles in them, and a small cube about the sphere the size of a golf ball.

He pressed a button on the bottom of it, and a hologram of a man wearing a similar set of armor appeared. He had many scars on him, and was wearing a bloody red bandana, but otherwise, he was an older version of the baby.

"Hello Kakarot, my name's Bardock, and I am your father. I'm sorry that you have to meet me this way, but I must be brief. If your actually watching this, then odds are that I failed to stop Frieza from destroying our planet and killed off the rest of your race, myself included. You were sent under that Tyrant's orders to this planet to destroy all life on it. Right now, I'm telling you to do the opposite, and protect that world while you train to grow strong enough to avenge us. Take pride in your power Kakarot, but never let it blind you to think your invincible as the rest of us have done. I love you son, take care of yourself for me."

* * *

Five years had passed relatively quickly, and Kakarot had finally begun training with Gohan.

Kakarot threw a series of punches at the old man's head, who dodged them all easily. Finally, Gohan had decided to end their little stalemate as gently as he could, and caught the latest punch by the wrist and threw Kakarot lightly to the ground.

"Your still not strong enough to hit an old man Kakarot." He said with a slight smirk.

"I'll never be able to hit you." Kakarot muttered, crossing his arms and frowning.

"Never say never Kakarot." The old man lectured. "You've just started training a few weeks ago, while I've trained my entire life. Your already stronger than most people on this entire planet, and your only five. But to be as strong as me overnight just can't be done."

"So is anyone as strong or even stronger than you Grandpa?"

"Only a select few are better than me, Kakarot. They've trained just as long, if not longer than I have been. But don't be discouraged by losing at first Kakarot, I know you'll surpass me."

"Really?" Kakarot asked skeptically. "How do you know that?"

Gohan smiled and said "The next generation will always surpass the last, Kakarot. You will grow more powerful than I could ever dream of being."

"I don't believe you on that one." Kakarot said.

"Then I guess it's time you learned your heritage Kakarot. As you know, I'm not your father. The truth is, I found you in a space ship in the woods five years ago. With you was that necklace that your wearing, and a small pack of supplies. In them, was this."

Gohan picked up the sphere that had sat there gathering dust.

"Come Kakarot, we have much to talk about."

* * *

One year later

Kakarot closed the book his father had sent along with him, and stared down at his feet. Running the instructions through his head again, he took a deep breath, and focused his energy. After thirty minutes, the boy found himself floating half a foot above the ground wobbily, struggling to maintain his balance.

"Alright, let's see how far I can go." Kakarot said aloud, willing himself forward. A bead of sweat rolled down his face, as he pushed himself forward, trying to go even faster. It wasn't a long flight, with him collapsing to the ground after five minutes, exhausted beyond anything save food could immediately fix.

After a failed attempt to push himself up, Kakarot decided to just roll over onto his back. With great effort, the boy looked up to see how far he went on his first try.

Even with his great eyesight, it took him a minute to find the house, being nothing but a tiny blotch in the distance.

With a pained grin, Kakarot congratulated himself until a horrible thought occurred to him.

_"How am I going to walk all the way back to the house if I don't even have the strength to stand?" _Kakarot looked around for a minute, finding himself to be alone.

After a frustrating ten minutes of trying, and failing, to get back up to his feet, Kakarot just layed there panting, opting to go with his last resort.

Taking a deep breath, and ignoring the slight sting in his pride, Kakarot shouted out one word.

"Help!"

* * *

Six years later

Kakarot was sitting atop of a hill as he stared up at the moonless sky, taking a break from his training. It irked him that he was still so weak compared to his father, or even to Gohan.

He wore his father's necklace beneath his Saiyan armor that grew along with him along with a pair of shorts. His tail wrapped around his waist like a furry belt, while his hands were over his lap.

His scouter was in his right hand, a number still blinking on it. t was Kakarot's current power level, and read a small 65.

And last he checked, Gohan's was 90.

_"How will I ever avenge my people if I can't even break even with the old man." _Kakarot thought miserably, staring glumly up towards the stars as his heart wrenched at the thought of never being strong enough to kill Frieza.

With a sigh, Kakarot ended his pessimistic thoughts and turned to go back in the house, when he heard heavy footsteps walking through the woods nearby. Looking over, he saw someone with long blue hair with their back turned to him, and a weird looking radar in hand.

Narrowing his eyes, he ran quietly behind the person, waiting until he was within arms reach of them to ask "What are you doing?"

"Gah!" The person yelled out, turning around. She expected to see someone older, not a kid that looked like he could bench a tank yet run a mile in under a minute. "Jeez, don't you know not to startle a girl like that!"

"Don't you know it's not polite to go sneaking around someone's property for no reason?" Kakarot deadpanned.

"I'll have you know that I'm looking for the dragon balls." She stated matter of factly.

The saiyan blinked for a moment, before asking in a disturbed voice "The...the dragon's what?"

"You know, the dragon balls! There are seven of them, they can grant you any wish you want?" She answered his question with another question. "They look like this." She pulled out an orange orb that seemed to glow slightly, with five red stars on it.

"Never seen one before, but maybe my Grandfather has." Kakarot said, leading her up to their house.

After a minute of silent walking, the girl said "You never told me you name."

"Neither did you." Kakarot deadpanned over his shoulder.

"Because the guy is supposed to ask the girl for her name."

Kakarot rolled his eyes and asked in a slightly sarcastic voice "Alright, what's your name?"

"Bulma Briefs, yours?"

"Kakarot." the boy grunted.

Bulma glanced at him and said "You don't like to talk much, do you?"

"Not really." Kakarot said, before opening his house door and calling for his grandfather. The old man came down, surprised by the sight of the girl behind his adoptive Grandson.

"Kakarot, What's going on and who is the girl behind you?" he asked.

"She said her name was Bulma, and she was looking for some magical ball that supposed to be around here...What were they called?"

"The dragonballs." Bulma said helpfully.

"Right, those."

Gohan looked a little confused, and asked "Why do you want my dragon ball?"

"I wanted to make a wish with it." She said in reply.

"And that wish is?"

"For the perfect boyfriend." Bulma answered.

_"A selfish wish, but a harmless one. I guess I could give it to her..." _Gohan glanced at Kakarot, who was staring up at the stars uninterested in what was going on. A small smirk formed on his face as he thought _"And maybe Kakarot could go see the world while she looks for the rest."_

"Tell me something young lady," Gohan began, making Bulma think he was going to refuse. "How many have you found?"

Bulma blinked, slightly confused, but none the less answered "I just have one right now."

"Do you need any help with finding the rest? They could be in very dangerous places after all."

"Uh... yeah, I kind of do... why?" Bulma asked hesitantly.

"Well then, How about you take Kakarot with you, I'm sure he would love to help." Gohan said, smiling kindly.

Kakarot stared at Gohan as if the old man had finally cracked, until he saw the small twinkle in his eyes. Kakarot swallowed the bitter pill and accepted that his grandpa was doing this.

"Well sure, I don't see why I couldn't." Bulma shrugged.

Gohan nodded, and handed her his four star ball. "Now Kakarot, why don't you go..."

Kakarot had already zoomed up the stairs and was walking back down with a small duffel bag slung over his shoulder. He looked at Gohan sheepishly, and said quietly "I like to go camping sometimes while the moon isn't full."

Gohan shook his head, and watched Kakarot follow Bulma to her car. Once they were inside, they sped off, looking for the next dragon ball and starting the first of many Adventures for Kakarot and Bulma.

* * *

Power levels:

Kakarot: 2 (Baby) 7 (Five years old) 28 (six years old) 65 (current)

Gohan: 90

Bardock: 10,000


	2. Turtles and Pterydactyls

Disclaimer: I do not own Dragon Ball Z, or any of the characters.

* * *

Kakarot 's current predicament was all his Grandfather's fault in his eyes.

_"Why am I even here?"_ Kakarot mentally asked himself. The boy was stuck inside of Bulma's car for what felt like had been eons, but had only been around an hour. He had staring down at his necklace for a while now, something he found to be calming to him.

Kakarot felt a smack jerk to push him forward, and saw that they had stopped moving. "Why are we stopping?" Kakarot asked curiously.

"I need to make a pit stop." Bulma said without meeting his eyes.

"But there's nothing here." Kakarot asked in confusion. "I thought Pit stops were at like gas stations or something-"

"I NEED TO PEE!" She screamed as she got out of the car.

Kakarot mentally winced at the pain shooting through his overly sensitive ears. "No need to yell, you know." Kakarot said. "If you gotta pee, you gotta pee. Besides, I could use a break from being trapped in this stupid thing for hours on end." The saiyan hopped out of the car, and walked around, trying to get feeling back in his sleeping tail.

"Maybe I should've put it under my armor, so I didn't have to sit on it for so long." He said quietly to himself.

"KAKAROT!" He heard Bulma piercing scream. He gingerly touched his ears, but never the less the saiyan had sprinted to her location, finding a giant blue pterodactyl gripping the girl by one of her arms as it held her slightly above the ground.

"I only intend on asking once." Kakarot said in a calm voice. "Put her down."

"And why would I want to give up my dinner?" The dinosaur asked.

"Because if you don't, I'll kill you and you'll be my dinner." Kakarot said, crossing his arms as he stared at the large bird of prey.

"Nice joke kid, but-" Kakarot's fist smashed into its beak, forcing it to drop Bulma, who landed on her feet, rubbing her arm.

Kakarot didn't stop there, and began to beat on the bird with several punches and kicks, beating it into the ground. Finally, The saiyan's foot smashed into the center of the dinosaur's neck, snapping it with a crunch.

Bulma stared at the boy in shock of the brutal display, but dismissed it because he did save her after all.

"Well, I guess that this break just got a lot longer." He said, staring at the dead pterodactyl.

"Why?"

"Because I just got us dinner." Kakarot said, pulling out a large knife from his bag. He glanced up at her and said "You might not want to watch this."

Bulma blinked, but knew instantly what he was going to do, and did not ever want to watch something like that. "I'll go get the car then." She said with a slight squeak, walking off back up the small hill and through the bushes that hid them from the road.

Bulma heard a feint sound that sounded like a butcher chopping up meat, before she heard nothing at all. As she pocketed the capsule car, she saw Kakarot had already built a small fire, which was seriously weird given that she was only gone for two minutes, not nearly enough time to clean the pterodactyl and make a fire.

Yet, as she entered the clearing she was proven wrong by Kakarot having covered the bloody mess he left with leaves, and put their apparent Dinner above a fire with small sticks, almost like Marshmallows.

"Your fast." She said in awe, not knowing what else to say.

"Yes, I am." Kakarot agreed absently, thinking _'For an earthling, I'm fast, but as a saiyan? I'm a joke.'_ He let the food cook a while longer, before he ate it at a pace Bulma couldn't believe. He moved like lightning as he managed to eat his meal in three seconds.

"And you have a serious eating disorder."

Kakarot scratched the back of his head sheepishly, unintentionally unwrapping his tail which waved around as if it had a mind of its own.

Bulma stared at Kakarot like he grew a second head, and she stuttered out "Ka-kakarot y-ou have at-tail."

"Uh..." he glanced back at his brown tail, before wrapping it back around his waist. "yeah... I do."

"You have a tail." She repeated. "How..."

"I'm not human." Kakarot said bluntly. He figured he would have to tell her sooner or later if they would be traveling together for what was likely to be a long time. "See, I'm a part of a dead warrior race called the Saiyans, which by the way, have to eat a lot more than humans do to survive. If I don't eat in like twelve hours or so, I grow much weaker than a human would. Anyway, that's not important, what Is however is the fact that I've been led to believe I'm the last one left. I have to train until I'm strong enough to avenge my people by killing a tyrant named Frieza. Hence, why I'm much stronger and faster than most humans on this planet in general."

"Kakarot...Meth is death..." Bulma muttered.

"What's meth?" Kakarot asked curiously.

"Nevermind... so your...an alien? From outer space?"

"Yeah... does this surprise you?" Kakarot asked, oblivious to the fact that it did indeed floor the girl's mind. "I mean, the emperor of the earth is a dog..."

"But you're the last of your entire race?"

"So I've been told...why are you hugging me?" Kakarot asked with a slight blush on his face as the girl wrapped her arms around him and hugged him.

"That's so sad." She murmured.

"Uh...I guess..." Kakarot said slightly confused. He would admit that the hug felt nice and all, but it was really weird for someone to actually hug him, since the closest thing to a hug he ever got was when Gohan suplexed him when he was six.

Bulma finally released him from the hug, much to his relief. Kakarot looked away from her, as he said "I think the food's done."

"Alright then."

After an hour, Bulma decided to set up her tent, with Kakarot deciding to continue his training.

He sat with his legs crossed, and his eyes closed. With effort, the Saiyan created a ball of light in his hand, with it flickering in and out of existence, but never truly fading away like the rest of them.

Kakarot smirked as he congratulated himself in his head, taking his attention off the small ball for a second.

As a result, the ball promptly exploded in his hand, blasting him onto his back with a thud, and scaring the wits out of his blue haired companion.

For a moment, Bulma was terrified that something bad had happened, but when she saw Kakarot holding his hand underwater in the lake nearby, glaring at nothing in particular, she relaxed slightly.

"Kakarot, what the heck was that?" The girl asked.

"I may or may not have screwed up while working on energy manipulation." He said, taking his hand out of the water. His pride not willing to bend down and let him say that he nearly blew his hand off.

"What's energy manipulation?" Bulma asked curiously.

"Its where you bend energy around to make blasts, or if you've had a little practice, to fly."

"Fly? That's impossible." She said flatly.

"Maybe for a human." He retorted, beginning to float. He let his legs stretch out, proving that he couldn't touch the ground. "But not for a saiyan."

Bulma stared at him in disbelief, watching him do a backflip in the air. _"did I hit my head?"_

Kakarot's smirk fell however, as he did another flip, only to smack his head against a treebranch and fall back to the ground.

"Ow!"

Bulma laughed at his expense, saying "Maybe you shouldn't show off so much."

Kakarot glared at her mildly, and said "At least I can still fly."

Kakarot didn't see her pull out a frying pan, nor did he see her swing it his head. The metal dented to show the top part of his head, and the boy was left with his hands rubbing his now sore head, glaring at the obviously deranged woman in front of him.

_"Note to self, never tick her off. She has a mean swing with those damned Frying pans."_

* * *

Bulma awoke the next morning, finding Kakarot in the water once again, this time trying to get a fish for breakfast.

"You stupid thing, hold still!" He snapped, wrestling a huge fish. It slipped out of his grasp, and smacked him across the face with its tail.

Bulma had to laugh at the expression on Kakarot's face, and she laughed even harder at his choice words for the monster-sized fish. She watched him dive back under, and speed off after the fish.

After a minute, the boy came back up with the same fish in tow, and threw it onto the shore .

"Ha, got you now, you slippery bastard." Kakarot grinned, going back up to the shore line. He swam up to the shore, and grabbed the fish up by his tail with a smug smirk on his face.

Kakarot opened up his free hand, and formed a Kai blast without much effort, and blasted the fish. Once the light died down, the fish was already cooked, and definitely dead.

"You're a lot better than you were last night." Bulma said. "Last time you nearly blew yourself up."

Kakarot's cheeks grew red in embarrassment, not really enjoying the reminder. Kakarot saw something slow moving towards them, looking like a boulder. Slightly suspicious, Kakarot fired a tiny blast in front of it for good measures.

"If you enjoy living, I think it would be best if you stop moving." Kakarot said, all emotion leaving his face.

"I'm sorry, I'm just lost." A voice said in reply.

Kakarot walked through the bush that hid the bottom half of it from view, while Bulma followed him. What greeted them was a large turtle, looking in shock at the smoldering crater in front of him.

"Your one big ass turtle." Kakarot blurted in shock, receiving a light smack in the back of the head from Bulma.

"Kakarot, that's not nice." she chided.

Kakarot stared at her and said "I'm not a nice person."

"Your nice to me." Bulma said with a deadpan.

Kakarot didn't reply, instead asking "So turtle, you said something about being lost?"

"Yes, I'm lost, and trying to get to the ocean."

Kakarot blinked, and said "Your extremely lost then, because the ocean is about two hundred and forty miles in the other direction."

"Oh dear..." The turtle said, sounding downcast. "I don't suppose you all could help me get there."

"Sorry, we can't. We're on a little journey for these dragon ball thingies." Kakarot said, showing him the four star dragon ball.

The turtle's face brightened as he said "My master has one of those, but his has three stars on stars."

Kakarot looked over at Bulma who said "Really?"

"Yes, and I can tell that you're a fighter." The turtle said to Kakarot. "My master is a really great martial artist, I'm sure he would give you a spar if you brought me to him."

Kakarot smirked, and asked "Really? Well then, let's get on our way."

* * *

As Bulma pulled out her capsule car, she watched curiously as Kakarot put the Turtle on his back.

"What are you doing?"

"I am not under any circumstances, getting back in that metal can." Kakarot said. "Besides, I'm pretty fast, I can keep up with you and still manage to carry this big ass turtle."

"Stop calling him that." Bulma snapped at him.

Kakarot grunted, watching as Bulma got in her car. Waiting for her to get moving, Kakarot let his tail unwrap from his waist, so that it didn't go numb from not moving for to long.

After a few minutes, he was running right behind Bulma's car, Turtle in tow.

However, after four hours of running with the so-called 'Big Ass Turtle' on his back, he was slightly winded.

"Dang Kakarot, I didn't think you'd be able to keep up with a car going at sixty miles an hour for four straight hours." Bulma said, surprised.

Kakarot panted heavily as he dropped Turtle to the ground, and fell straight onto his back. "Yeah...whatever..." He muttered. "Hey turtle... can you go get... that master of yours... and bring us that dragon ball?"

"Okay, don't go anywhere." The turtle said, kicking off the shore and swimming under the water.

"Trust me... I don't think I can... big ass turtle..." Kakarot muttered.

* * *

After an hour of waiting, Kakarot had managed to catch his breath, and he was currently sitting lotus style on the beach with his eyes closed as he waited.

Bulma was standing next to him, watching as the sun began to set over the Ocean, letting the red rays of the sun shine beautifully across the glimmering water. A smile appeared on her face as she said "It's beautiful, isn't it?"

Kakarot opened his eyes to see the sight in front of him, and said "Yeah, I guess it is."

Kakarot saw a man riding on the back of the Turtle in the distance, coming closer to them. Looking closer, Kakarot saw the man was wearing a large Turtle shell on his back.

"So, you're the ones who brought back my friend." He said. "Now, which of you two youngsters wanted a dragon ball?"

"I did." Bulma said, catching the three star ball.

"And the other wanted a fight?" He asked hesitantly, curiously looking at Kakarot.

"That I did, old man." Kakarot grunted. He hit his scouter, and read it as 142. _"Odds are that he's going to beat my face in, but being a saiyan, I'd still grow stronger." _Kakarot said mentally as he took off his scouter and set it on the ground.

"Kid, My name is Roshi, and I'm not that old!" The old man shouted at the Saiyan child.

"Whatever." Kakarot shrugged, slipping into a fighting stance.

_"Stupid brat, calling me old. I'll give him a...That stance is a lot like the one Gohan uses."_ Roshi narrowed his eyes at the boy. "I see...your the boy Gohan found twelve years ago."

"You know Gohan?" Kakarot asked.

Roshi smiled as he said "Know him? Kid, I taught him how to fight."

Kakarot gulped and thought quietly to himself _"I'm so going to get my ass kicked."_

* * *

Kakarot: (after learning how to control his energy) 50; (After carrying Turtle to the beach) 73

Roshi: (With Turtle shell) 142

Also, I had to repost this because someone pointed out that at the beginning of the last chapter, Kakarot's power level was a 65.*


	3. Turtle hermit

Disclaimer: I don't own Dragon ball Z

* * *

Both Kakarot and Roshi stood unmoving for a few moments, before Kakarot sprinted forward. The saiyan boy started off by throwing a series of rapid punches at the old man, yet couldn't land a single blow. Kakarot's jaw clenched slightly as he watched Roshi continue to easily dodge every blow with the grace of the master he was.

Then, the very moment that Kakarot made even the tiniest of slips in his guard, Roshi had exploited it. Roshi sidestepped a punch, and buried his left fist straight into the boy's gut, hunching him over as he saliva flew from his mouth and onto the ground.

Without missing a beat, Roshi's palm crashed into Kakarot's head, forcing Kakarot to do a cartwheel to stay on his feet.

Kakarot was now put on the defensive, barely keeping up with Roshi as he threw quick punches and kicks at him. After a minute's stalemate, Roshi finally landed a devastating elbow to Kakarot's jaw, before kicking him in the chest with a roundhouse kick.

The boy was knocked to the ground, rolling over in a reverse summer sault as he got back to his feet. Roshi charged again, expecting Kakarot to go back on defense, when Kakarot just lifted his left hand and launched a small yellow ball of energy at him.

Total shock took over the turtle hermit at the sight, making him forget to even put up his arms to block the blast. The blow hit Roshi's chest, driving the old man back several feet before Roshi returned from his stupor and smacked the dying ball away, milliseconds before it exploded.

A small crater, only six inches deep in the sand dunes nearby was there. Normally, that would be considered weak, but considering the boy wasn't even twenty yet, let alone fifteen, it was nearly jaw dropping that he could do what grown men could not.

Not planning to give Roshi any reprieve, Kakarot ran at the old man and threw a flying kick aimed at his head. Easily blocking it, Roshi narrowed his eyes as he caught Kakarot's next blow, grabbing the boy's wrist. "Where'd you learn Kai manipulation kid?"

For a second, Kakarot didn't reply as he stared up at the man's eyes. "Let's just say that I'm a quick learner and leave it at that." Was his eventual reply, managing to slip in the old man's guard and drive his knee into his gut.

Roshi grunted as he grabbed Kakarot's leg and used it to land a solid punch into the boy's face. Kakarot was forced to flip backwards as a result, his lip bloodied. "No foolin, it took me sixty years to even make my first Kai ball, and another ten to do anything with it."

Kakarot didn't reply, instead charging the old man again. Kakarot tried more punches aimed for the old man's head, but yet again it was to no avail.

Roshi blocked every blow yet again, internally being reminded of a game of patty cake from the motions of their hands. Roshi let a blow sail over his head before he got in close and smashed an open palm into Kakarot's chest, driving all air from Kakarot's lungs as the old master spun around like a tornado and kicked Kakarot across the face.

Again, Kakarot was forcibly thrown back, and again, he charged forward, growing slightly frustrated. The old Turtle Hermit again had blocked or dodged every blow easily without breaking a sweat as usual, irking Kakarot's frustration even more. Eventually, Kakarot's frustration got the better of his judgment, and he threw a wild kick without thinking.

Roshi caught Kakarot's outstretched leg by the ankle, and began to spin around while still holding onto the leg. After a minute of spinning at rapid speeds, Roshi let go of Kakarot's ankle and let him fly into the rocky area of the beach, where the saiyan received multiple cuts along his arms, and his ankle landed horribly on a rock, twisting in a horrid angle.

"Kakarot!" Bulma was about to go and check on her friend, when he surprised both the girl and the martial arts master by again getting back on his feet, though not putting any weight on his left leg.

"Kid, I think you've had enough." Roshi said lowering his guard as he stared at the boy.

The saiyan boy's eyes were fixed on the ground. He gave nothing away, but his pride kept him from openly admitting that he was hurt. His tail had untied itself from his waist, waving around behind him as Kakarot lifted his eyes from the ground.

"If you think that this fight is over," Kakarot said quietly, his legs leaving the ground as he began to float above the ground. "Then your sorely mistaken!" Kakarot sped through the air right at Roshi, not giving the old man any time to put up his guard. Kakarot imbedded his head firmly into Roshi's stomach, stunning Roshi as it drove him backwards.

The saiyan warrior did not stop there, he continued to use his momentum from the flight to do front flip and kick Roshi on the top of his head with his good foot. Keeping up his pace of rapid movement, Kakarot's third blow was an elbow to the back of Roshi's head, driving the already hunched over master to the ground.

Then, Kakarot lifted up both his hands, where a large yellow ball of energy had formed. With a bloody smirk, Kakarot let it fly down in a blast on the downed old man, a yellow flash overtaking the area.

Smoke rose up to cover the field, letting Kakarot get his breath back as with a disbelieving face, he thought that he had actually won against the stronger fighter. Yet, the Naïve thought was proven wrong when the dust cleared, and Roshi stood several feet away with only small scrapes on the top of his bald head.

"Alright kid, I guess that since pride of yours won't let you stay down." Roshi sprinted forward and landed a solid punch into Kakarot's sternum, hearing the sound of ribs breaking as blood flew from Kakarot's mouth. "I gotta put you down!" Roshi said as a heavy right hand smashed across Kakarot's cheek, followed by a series of even more devastating blows to his face.

During the onslaught, Kakarot honestly thought he started to see stars circle around his head like out of a cartoon, until a blow finally sent him sprawling across the ground.

The saiyan layed face down against the ground, blood and dirt mixed together in front of his face. Faintly, Kakarot heard Roshi saying incoherent words, like 'Ka' and 'me', but he didn't listen to it at the time. Panting, bruised, and even broken in a few places, Kakarot still found the strength inside him to at least stand up on his good leg.

Unfortunately, he made the mistake of leaving his back turned to Roshi.

A mistake Kakarot never got to make twice.

Kakarot turned as he was ready to continue, when all he saw was a blue beam coming straight at him.

"HA!"

The beam collided straight into his chest, engulfing him in a blue explosion that create a horrendously beautiful light show for Bulma.

Kakarot flew what had to be a hundred feet to land right at Bulma's feet, his armor completely obliterated from the waist up, and multiple injuries all over him.

"Kakarot!" That was the last thing Kakarot heard before his vision faded into darkness.

* * *

Kakarot groaned painfully as light struck his closed eyes, waking him up. He opened them, taking in his surroundings, he found himself in a plain room with orange walls, a small window letting sunlight come in like a beam and smack him in the face, and a door on the opposite side of the room.

Kakarot also saw that Bulma was in the room as well, fast asleep in a chair next to his bed. Looking confused as to where he was, Kakarot tried to move his arm to wake her, but pain flared up in every fiber of his being, forcing him to stay in place.

Looking over his body, he found out why. Stitches bound the cuts along his arms, dried blood staining his flesh. A bandage was wrapped around his bare chest, covering severe burns, as well as three broken ribs and a broken collarbone. His tail even had a bandage on it. The bottom half was taped up to cover the burns it suffered as well.

His legs were covered under a blanket so he couldn't really see them. He could feel his ankle was broken in multiple places, but looking at his chest, he figured that was the least of his injuries at the moment.

"Bulma...wake up." Kakarot said while laying down.

Said girl woke up, startled by the sudden voice. "Kakarot? Your up a lot sooner than Roshi thought you'd be."

"I'm full of surprises." Kakarot said. "Although being in so much damn pain that you can't move is a horrible drawback from it."

Bulma sighed and said "Maybe if you weren't so hellbent on getting a beating, you wouldn't be in that kind of situation."

Kakarot rolled his eyes, but didn't reply. For a few minutes, an awkward silence had overtaken the two.

Kakarot tried to sit up again, this time actually succeeding, though the searing pain nearly made him wish he was still asleep. It took the blanket to fall to his thighs for him to realize the embarrassing problem he faced. He was only wearing boxers, and even those had been peppered by burn holes in them.

Blushing a light shade of crimson as he looked down and pulled the blanket back over his waist, Kakarot asked "Bulma...where's my armor?"

"It...uh...it was obliterated into eleven pieces." Bulma said. "The only thing that you were wearing that didn't break is your necklace, which is in my pocket."

"So I'm out of clothes aside from shorts to sleep in?"

"No, I can give you something, kid." A new voice, said entering the room. Roshi was leaning by the doorway, a small box tucked under his arm.

"I'm not wearing a Hawaiian shirt." Kakarot deadpanned sourly. He had already grown accustomed to the searing pain over his body, now just a dull ache filled his being. Aside from his ankle anyway. That still hurt severely.

"How about this?" Roshi placed the box at the edge of Kakarot's bed, and pulled out a sleeveless orange martial arts gi. "I also got weighted clothes for when you can actually lift yourself up to try."

Kakarot took the Gi thankfully, placing to the side of him as he asked "What did you hit me with?"

"A Kamehame wave. It's something I could teach you once you were done helping your friend here look for the dragon balls."

"You'd be willing to train me?" Kakarot asked, surprised.

"Sure, I'm getting old, and I figured the world martial art tournament needed its champ to actually have a protégé to eventually take his place." Roshi said seriously.

"World tournament?"

"It's not important right now, just hurry up and get better." Roshi said, moments before Kakarot's stomach roared so loud Roshi swore he saw the roof shake.

Kakarot looked down, and sudden realization came over him. It had been a lot longer than twelve hours since he had eaten.

"You wouldn't happen to have any food, would you old-timer?"

* * *

Roshi could only stare as the boy showed another jaw dropping talent. Not only had most of his smaller injuries healed, but the boy had managed to eat what was about four times his body weight, and still be hungry enough to devour anything put in front of him within world record speed.

"So kid, mind if I eat somethin' before you eat me out of house and home?" Roshi asked, a small tick forming on his forehead as Kakarot snatched the food in his hand before he could blink.

Seriously, where was that speed when the two fought on the beach?

"Wof courf!" Kakarot said, stuffing more food in his mouth.

'94,95,96... I'm one short of breaking the record for most biscuits I've stuffed in my mouth.' Kakarot thought. He saw none left on the table, and there wasn't a loaf in the pantry.

The only one was currently in Bulma's hand.

And she was about to eat it.

On sheer instinct, Kakarot sprinted as fast as he could and lunged for it, food still in his mouth.

He mananged to grab it, just in time for Bulma to bite his finger.

The fell down his open throat, nearly making the alien child choke if not for his inhumanly powerful muscles for eating.

"Ahhh!"

"Ow!"

Bulma stared at Kakarot dumbfounded, while the boy just layed face first on the ground, his bright red hand laying next to his head.

"Kakarot, why did you just try to shove your finger down my throat?" Bulma asked finally.

"You ate the last biscuit." Kakarot moaned as a reply. "I was one short of the most biscuits I've ever had in my mouth... and you crushed my hopes and dreams!"

Bulma was filled with disbelief. She didn't know whether to sigh at his shenanigans, or laugh.

Fortunately, she didn't have to decide. Roshi helpfully piped in "You do realize that I have another ten in the oven as we speak, right?"

"DAMN IT!"

* * *

Once Kakarot's food rampage and his little comical failure had ended, the saiyan boy excused himself from the table to go through his stuff so they could leave, only to stub his toe against the door to his temporary room.

After a wonderful set of beautifully colorful words, Kakarot pulled his fist out of the hole he punched through the door, much to Roshi's dismay.

"That's the first thing you're doing when you get back here kid. Your gonna fix that door, ya hear me?"

"Sorry old man." Kakarot said, a slight hint of embarrassment on his face. He opened the door, and made his way inside, finding his bag was still unopened. He unzipped it, and found his scouter was right at the top, exactly where he hoped it would be.

He put on the pink device, clicking it as he adjusted it to check his power.

With a smile, he saw a massive jump from somewhere in the sixties or seventies, he wasn't entirely sure, all the way up to a 106.

'Who knew getting the crap kicked out of me and carrying that big ass turtle would do so much? Maybe I should just make that my training regiment.' The saiyan boy thought with a smile. He walked out of the room, finding Bulma all ready to go.

"Thanks again for the dragon ball." Bulma said.

"Anytime." Roshi said, watching the two teenagers walk out his home, and the girl throw a capsule into the water.

The two got in their boat, and were heading back to shore.

* * *

For over an hour, the two rode in their boat towards shore, much to Kakarot's boredom. Bulma had stuffed her face behind a book, leaving him to just lay on his back and stare up at the light blue sky with the sun hidden in the clouds.

"Bulma..."

"What?"

"I'm bored." Kakarot groaned. "Entertain me."

"How?" Bulma asked dully, her eyes not leaving her book.

"You're the super smart one. Think of something."

Bulma sighed and shrugged her shoulders, unable to come up with anything, and not really caring to.

Finally, Kakarot spoke again. "I spy with my little eye something blue."

With a sigh, Bulma responded. "The sky."

"Nope."

"The Ocean."

"Nope."

Bulma closed her book, and now actually started to play."The boat?"

"A little closer."

"My shoes?"

"No."

"My pants?"

"No."

"The little stripe on my shirt?"

"Nope, but your getting there."

"Am I wearing it?"

"Yes."

"My nails aren't painted and they're the only other thing I can think of."

"Bulma, its on your head."

"But I'm not wearing a hat."

Kakarot smirked slightly, almost laughing. After a minute, he asked rhetorically"Are you sure your a genius? I can fly us to a mental institute to see if they can determine that."

"My... hair."

"Finally! I thought you'd never get it!"

"You didn't need to make it that hard!"

"Its directly on your head! It should have been the first thing on your mind."

"Was that a pun?" Bulma asked, flabbergasted.

"Yes." Kakarot's response was so cheeky, Bulma could have slapped it.

Which she did, with a frying pan.

"OW!"

"I hate you sometimes Kakarot." Bulma said.

"She-devil." Kakarot mumbled.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?"

* * *

After two hours at sea, the two travelers finally arrived back on the beach, where Kakarot finally got a good look at the carnage he and Roshi commited on the earth in their fight.

The most noticable thing was the crater where the Kamehame wave hit him. It was large, much larger than him, about fourteen feet from one side to the other.

It was also about two feet deep.

"I thought that it killed you." Bulma said.

"You think something like that would have killed me." Kakarot agreed with wide eyes.

Now he knew it as fact. He had a much longer path to follow before being anywhere near ready to avenge his people.

* * *

Kakarot: 73(Fighting Roshi); 10 (Hungry and injured after fighting) 106 (Broken ankle and after eating)

Roshi: 143 (Turtle shell full power);90 (actually fighting Kakarot) 88; 114 (Kamehame wave)


End file.
